ASSATA ZERAI, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Sociology, Associate Chancellor for Diversity; University of Illinois 3102 Lincoln Hall MC-454, 702 South Wright Street, Urbana, Illinois 61801 | 217-333-7119 [email protected] EDUCATION University of Chicago Ph.D. in Sociology Dissertation: Preventive Health Strategies and Child Survival in Zimbabwe 1993 University of Chicago M.A. in Sociology 1988 Anderson University B.A. in Sociology 1986 EMPLOYMENT University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Associate Chancellor for Diversity 2016-present University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Professor of Sociology 2016-present University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Affiliate, Women and Gender Studies 2016-present University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Director, Core Faculty, Center for African Studies 2015-16 University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Associate Dean, Graduate College 2014-2016 University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Associate Professor of Sociology 2002-2016 University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Director of Graduate Studies for Department of Sociology 2007-2012 University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Core Faculty, Center for African Studies 2009-2016 ASSATA ZERAI, PH.D. PAGE 2 University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Associate Professor, African American Studies and Research 2002-2006 National Development and Research Institutes, New York, NY Research Fellow 2003-2005 Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY Associate Professor, Department of Sociology 2002 Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology 1994-2002 Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY Senior Research Associate, Center for Policy Research 1994-2002 RELATED EXPERIENCE University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC Postdoctoral Trainee, Carolina Population Center 1993-1994 Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria Visiting Scholar and Lecturer of Demography and Social Statistics 1993-1994 University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 1990-1993 Predoctoral Trainee, Population Research Center Children’s Home and Aid Society, Chicago, IL 1989-1990 Research Associate NORC, A Social Science Center, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 1988 Research Assistant AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION RESEARCH AREAS Multilevel analyses of Maternal and Child Health; National and Cross Cultural Health Inequality; Adaptations of Safe Water and Sanitation Technologies; Sociology of Religion; Multiculturalism and Christianity; Race, Class and Gender analyses; Africana Feminist Methods; Black Feminist Thought; Gender Equity and Development Effectiveness; Health Activism TEACHING AREAS ASSATA ZERAI, PH.D. PAGE 3 Development of African Studies; Maternal and Child Health in Africa; Africana Feminisms; Race, Class and Gender; Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods; Health Inequality; Social Science Perspectives on African American Studies; Black Feminist Thought RESEARCH TRACK RECORD GRANT ACTIVITY U.S. State Department. Mandela Washington Fellowship Young African Leaders Academic Institute in Public Management. The Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders (inaugurated in 2014) is the flagship program of President Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI). Co-Principal Investigators: Assata Zerai and Benito Marinas. November 2015-August 2016. U.S. Department of Education. International and Foreign Language Education Program. Title VI National Resource Center at the Consortium of the Center for African Studies at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) and the Program in African Studies, Northwestern University. $1M. Principal Investigators: Assata Zerai (UIUC) and Will Reno (NU). (2015-18) Sloan Foundation. University Center of Exemplary Mentoring. $1M. Lead Contact, Institutional Champion: Provost Ilesanmi Adesida, Co-Principal Investigators Graduate College Dean Sarah Lubienski, Graduate College Associate Dean, Assata Zerai, Bill Buttlar, Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering & Associate Dean, College of Engineering, Lance Cooper, Professor & Associate Head for Graduate Programs, Physics, College of Engineering, Richard Laugesen, Professor, Mathematics and Director of Graduate Studies, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; Wilfred Van Der Donk, Professor, Chemistry, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (March 2015-June 2018) University of Illinois. Seed funding for Sloan Grant. Office of the Provost. Graduate College Educational Equity. $300,000. Co-Principal Investigators Graduate College Dean Sarah Lubienski, Graduate College Associate Dean, Assata Zerai. (2015-18) University of Illinois. Research Board, Democracy in a Multiracial Society Manuscript Workshop Grant. Spring 2015. Assata Zerai. $4000. (May 2015) University of Illinois. Office of Diversity, Equity and Access. April 2014. DRIVE Grant. Assata Zerai, Antoinette Burton, Jorge Chapa and Ruby Mendenhall. $5000. (2014-15) National Science Foundation 2013 Safe Global Water and Sanitation Summit, Arusha Tanzania; Principal Investigator: Benito Marinas. Funding for Zerai and a grad student to attend to workshop ($5000) ASSATA ZERAI, PH.D. PAGE 4 Research Fellow 2004-2005. National Development and Research Institutes, Inc. New York, NY. Projects: Grandparents Experiences with Secondary Stigma in Healthcare Settings; Secondary Stigma among Health care workers in Nigeria; additional projects concerning harm reduction approaches to maternal substance use. $50,000 (I declined.) International Studies and Programs, Funds awarded to support a conference entitled “HIV/AIDS in Africa: Gender, Agency and Empowerment” with Ezekiel Kalipeni ($6,000) 2004 African Studies, Funds awarded to support a conference entitled “HIV/AIDS in Africa: Gender, Agency and Empowerment” with Ezekiel Kalipeni ($4,000) 2003 Research Board, Funds awarded for travel to research site to lay groundwork for CDMS project, titled “Grandparenting Cocaine-Exposed Children: Experiences with Secondary Stigma in Healthcare Settings” ($500) 2004 African Studies, Funds awarded for travel to Johannesburg, South Africa to confer with co-investigator on the HIV project we are proposing to the National Institutes of Health ($3000; I declined.) Research Fellow 2003-2004. Center for Democracy in Multiracial Society, University of Illinois. Project title: “Grandparenting Cocaine-Exposed Children: Experiences with Secondary Stigma in Healthcare Settings.” $36,000 Research Fellow 2003-2004. National Development and Research Institutes, Inc. New York, NY. Projects: Grandparents Experiences with Secondary Stigma in Healthcare Settings; Secondary Stigma among Health care workers in Nigeria; additional projects concerning harm reduction approaches to maternal substance use. $48,852 Principal Investigator, “Raising our Children’s Kids” support from Syracuse University Aging Studies Center; $25,000 Principal Investigator, Salaried research leave granted for Spring 1998 by Syracuse University to complete analysis of National Maternity and Infant Health Survey, write various manuscripts (articles and a book length manuscript) on maternal cocaine use and maternal and child health, and revise and resubmit the “Grandparenting Cocaine Exposed Children” proposal; $25,000 Principal Investigator, “Evaluation of the New York Perinatal Data System” funded by the State of New York; $92,358 Principal Investigator, “History of Child Survival in Zimbabwe” support from the Syracuse University Appleby-Mosher Fund; $1000 ASSATA ZERAI, PH.D. PAGE 5 Principal Investigator, “Grandparenting Cocaine Exposed Children” summer research assistant support for proposal development from the Syracuse University Center Policy Research; $2000 (for two years) Consultant, “Women’s Health and Action Research Unit” funded by the Ford Foundation; $100,000 RECENT GRANT APPLICATIONS Social and Behavioral Sciences Research Initiative, University of Illinois proposal. “An Interdisciplinary Analytical Framework to Understand Socioeconomic and Cultural Contexts for Delivery of Safe Water, Sanitation, and Resource Management in Refugee Settlements and Host Communities in Uganda.” PI: Assata Zerai, Professor of Sociology and Associate Chancellor for Diversity; Co-PI’s: Teresia Olemako, Postdoctoral Scholar, Dept. of Geography & Geographic Information Science; Rebecca Morrow, Ph.D. Student, Dept. of Sociology; and Jeremy Guest, Assistant Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering. $20,000. National Science Foundation ADVANCE Institutional Transformation PreProposal, “MOVING THE MIDDLE: Developing Diversity Champions and Building a Culture of Inclusive Excellence”. Principal Investigator: Chancellor Robert J. Jones. Sandra Rodriguez-Zas and Assata Zerai, Co-PIs. Submitted April 2017. Association of American Colleges and Universities supported by the S. Englehard Center and the Spencer Foundation. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Campus Dialogue Series Project: Establishing Instructional Framework for Integrating Greater Purposes of Higher Education. Principal Investigator: Assata Zerai Co-Principal Investigator: Wallace Southerland. $5000 (with an additional $5000 central campus commitment). Submitted December 2016. U.S. State Department. Mandela Washington Fellowship Young African Leaders Academic Institute in Public Management. The Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders (inaugurated in 2014) is the flagship program of President Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI). Co-Principal Investigators: Assata Zerai and Benito Marinas. Submitted October 2015. U.S. Department of Justice; NIJ Graduate Research Fellowship Program in the Social and Behavioral